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Welcome to our new Fine Arts Department website! Here at BMS, we involve well over 200 students in Art, Band, Choir, and General Music Classes. We also offer a variety of extra-curricular activities including Flag and Rifle Corps, Madrigal Ensemble, Solo and Ensemble, a school-wide musical, and various art shows and contests. We strive to prepare our students to be successful in the Berlin High School Music Department, the Berlin High School Art Department, and to offer our students many diversified performance opportunities, including a Mid-Winter Arts Extravaganza which usually happens toward the end of January each year. It has also been shown in research that students involved in the arts often earn higher grades, score higher on standardized tests and develop leadership and social skills that help them later in life. Read a letter from the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan HERE. The letter explains why Arts Education Classes are nationallly recognized as Core Subject Areas.
If you are looking for a specific class website, please click on the blue underlined link at the right side of the page. To contact any of our teaching staff in the department, please use the contact information provided below. If you would like to learn a little more about our staff, please read on.
Mrs. Jean Yonke teaches 6th, 7th and 8th grade Art, and a new class starting in the Fall of 2010 Theatre Arts. Mrs. Yonke is also the Gifted and Talented Program Coordinator, and Trees for Tomorrow Coordinator at BMS. Mrs. Yonke has been teaching at BMS for 10 years. Mrs. Yonke believes that everyone has a creative talent that can be developed and enjoyed. Mrs. Yonke enjoys spending time in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming with her family, gardening, cooking, and creating.
Mrs. Janet Breza is director of the Cadet Band. In addition to this, she also teaches general music at Clay Lamberton and Poy Sippi Elementaries. Mrs. Breza is originally from Michigan where she received her B.S. in Education from Central Michigan University. Her major is music and minor is home economics. She received her M.A. in Education with music emphasis from Michigan State University.
Mrs. Tricia Walheim is the director of the Allegro and Encore Bands. She is in her 14th year of teaching middle school musicians in Berlin. She directs the 7th and 8th grade concert and marching bands as well as middle school flag and rifle corps. Mrs. Walheim believes that all students can learn to be successful musicians; some just need more practice! Mrs. Walheim also plays the trombone in the Ripon College Symphonic Wind Ensemble. In her free time, she enjoys activities with her husband and three children, including sailing, skiing, and geocaching.
Mr. Jeremy Fritz is the director of Choirs, 5th, 7th and 8th Grade General Music teacher, and will teach a new class offered at the 7th grade level beginning in the fall of 2010, Theatre Arts. Mr. Fritz is in his 7th year here at the middle school. In addition to regular instruction, Mr. Fritz also directs the Madrigal Ensemble, the Middle School Musical, is 8th Grade Boys Basketball Coach, general manager of our school radio station, WKDZ-AM and is the Assistant Director of the High School Musical. In his free time, he enjoys hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and spending time with his family.
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